Congressional Approvals Are Very Low

I understand that “some” members of Congress pay a great deal of attention to poll results to formulate their stands on most issues these days. But I have to wonder if those members worry too much about their own “negative numbers” in all of the recently run polls. Perhaps they should be really concerned about the results of a recent Gallup poll. With only 15 percent of the American people approving of the way Congress is doing its job, it’s pretty obvious that the American people want to see improvements.

The Gallup poll taken last month shows about one in five (22 percent) Americans want to start over entirely when it comes to Congress. The poll indicated that a significant segment of the population says all members should be “fired or replaced.” One in seven said the solution to Congressional inaction is “make members accountable to people, not their own agenda.” The third segment of people – 14 percent – want more bipartisan cooperation in Congress.

A significant number – 11 percent – are in favor of enacting term limits. Other suggestions including regulating campaign finance laws, electing more Democrats and, on the other side of the aisle, getting rid of President Obama. Actually, that number was only 1 percent, which is sort of surprising.

Putting the poll results aside, I feel reasonably sure that most people are fed up with the inaction in the halls of Congress. I also believe that they are sick and tired of the petty political bickering that consumes all too much of the legislators’ time. In fact with the approval rating of Congress being no higher than 15 percent in all of the polls, with more than 80 percent disapproving of the members’ performance, some of the folks the voters send to Washington might need to start listening to the people for a change.